1.7.0

These changes went live 24 April 2021.

BESS terminology update

BESS now has updated the versioning terminology used for various aspects of the BESS system to help differentiate them and avoid confusion. Specifically:

• "BESS Version" refers to the build of the BESS software site (i.e. 1.7.0)
• Project Versions have been renamed Project Revisions
• The version of the BESS engine (the specification of credits and credit scoring requirements) is now referred to as "BESS-3", "BESS-4", "BESS-5" etc. BESS-6 is the latest BESS engine (release notes below) that has been released as part of version 1.7.0.

User Interface Changes

• BESS PDF Reports - BESS 1.7 introduces a new report format. The project report is now provided to users in PDF form to ensure it can be captured in a consistent, portable format for submission and sharing. Features of the new report include:
  1. An improved, standardised front page ‘certificate’ with key project information, including overall score, category scores and the ability to see ‘at a glance’ whether a project has achieved a best practice standard of ESD as defined by BESS (overall score of 50% and achieving a pass score in mandatory categories).
  2. Inclusion of a new, concise ‘Credit Summary’ Section – credit scores can be easily seen and understood outside of the detailed project information.
  3. Visual guides for credit and category scores (bar charts), showing scores and relative contributions.
  4. Improvements to page formatting and layout in the detailed report section, including condensing information where user inputs are the same (e.g. where fixtures and fittings or appliances are the same for multiple dwellings). This section, importantly, still retains all user inputs to the tool.
  5. Reports for all published projects now available directly from the Project portfolio page
  
• Publishing BESS Reports - Previously this was accessed from the project report page. This is now available from the project sidebar.
  
• Documents & Evidence section - as reports are now provided in PDF form, a new Documents & Evidence section has been added to the Project sidebar to provide the summary of what Documents & Evidence is required by credit and allow for users to upload/remove or update their document & evidence requirements in one place.
• Project Buildings - from BESS-6 onwards, all projects created or upgraded to BESS-6 (or beyond) will support profiling of project buildings in the Project Details section.
  • A minimum of 1 building profile is required for BESS-6 projects. Residential Dwellings and Non-Residential Spaces profiles will not be shown until at least 1 building is profiled.
  • Each project Residential Dwelling and Non-Residential Space profile must be allocated to a building in Project Details.
  • BESS will automatically assign a default Project Building to Dwellings and Spaces.
  
• Energy Credit Results - Performance Comparision Charts. Where applicable, Energy credits now show a performance comparision chart that can be expanded by clicking on the chart in the credit summary. This will show the breakdown of energy usage/performance in your development relative to the reference case.
  
• Water Credit Results - Performance Comparision Charts. Water 1.1 credits will now show a performance comparision chart that can be expanded by clicking on the chart in the credit summary. This will show the breakdown of water usage between your development and the reference baseline case, along with any further reduction in water usage from rainwater and recycled water.
• Water Credit Results - Additional Rainwater Tank Performance Results. Water 1.1 credit summary now shows a few more results to help projects optimise rainwater harvesting and use.
  • % of connected demand met by rainwater- is the rainwater that's being collected adequately servicing the uses it is connected to?
  • Rainwater available that can't be stored- this is a measure of how many months of the year the rainwater tank will overflow.
  • Potential additional demand -a measure of additional uses that could potentially be connected to rainwater.
  
• Daylight factor requirement met displayed for each Room profile in IEQ
  
• Mandatory inputs added to editor grids - when editing profile grids, mandatory required inputs are now marked visually in advance as required inputs.
  

BESS-6 Engine

The BESS-6 Engine introduces a range of improvements to IEQ, Energy and Management sections.

• Non Residential Energy profiling by building - BESS-6 projects now profile Non-Residential Energy by buildings instead of by Non-Residential spaces. Note that projects upgraded to BESS-5 will require this information to be filled in as the old non-residential space based energy profiles will not be present.
• Non Residential IEQ - Additional Credits and mandatory requirements. See below for details
• Management 2.3 / 2.4 Credits combined - Management 2.3 (Thermal performance modelling - non-res) now has two questions - the previous criteria of Management 2.3 (preliminary modelling) and 2.4 (preliminary facade assessment). Users can select Yes to one or both of these. The maximum credit score is 100%.
• WELS showerhead options have been updated to reflect current standards.
• "Occupant to Install" option added for Washing Machine and Clothes Dryer residential profiles
• Class 1A building class name updated to Detached Dwelling

Non Residential IEQ

• New credits. - To provide more options for non-residential spaces to demonstrate meeting IEQ objectives, the following credits have been introduced: IEQ2.3 Ventilation - Non-Residential, IEQ3.4 Thermal Comfort - Shading - Non-Residential, IEQ3.5 Thermal Comfort - Ceiling fans - Non-Residential, IEQ4.1 Air Quality - Non-Residential.
• Sub-credits for IEQ2.3 - to provide flexibility for users in how the objectives of this credits is achieved.
• Mandatory credit requirements. IEQ1.4 and IEQ2.3 each require a mandatory credit score, in recognition of the importance of daylight and natural ventilation.
• Sliding scoring for Non-Residential IEQ credits. Sliding scoring is brand new functionality in BESS, where every percentage improvement in the relevant credit input triggers a corresponding increase in the credit score. At this stage it is implemented for non-res IEQ credits only. It will be progressively implemented in other parts of BESS.

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